All I know is it's taken what seems like ages to get this far and, so far as I can tell, the inside is still a complete shell.

Apparently absolutely everything inside had Gaddafi's crest on it, even the light fittings, so the new owner presumably had little option but to strip it all out and start again. That or adopt Gaddafi's crest!

As you can see from the picture, she has recently been shot blasted and spray painted.

By the look of her, she's now ready to float for her stability testing.

Thursday, July 03, 2008

With the rib out of the water, I need something to get me between the shore and Lady Jane.

Enter the new boat, thanks to eBay, which has almost immediately been christened The Old Sow ,by Patch, on account of it's a pig of a boat.

That song is stuck in my brain now!

The second hand 15HP Honda engine I got with it has an accelerator control which behaves more like a switch - no power or full power! Added to which, the Old Sow seems pretty hard to control with any wind about.

Even at full throttle, the Old Sow won't get up on the plane. Somewhat of a disappointment for such a light boat and a 15HP engine.

Anyway, as it turns out, the Honda engine is not pumping cooling water through the engine like it should.

What I've had to do is change the 15HP Honda for the old 4HP Mariner which originally came with Lady Jane.

Oddly enough, as I discovered when running the Old Sow up the river where I saw Seb, if I sit right forward in the boat the 4HP engine eventually gets the Old Sow up on the plane. It's a struggle though.